Just, um, thinking ahead.

It seems to me that Rebel forces tend to have more middle of the road, well rounded ships. Imperial ships are fall heavily on the either side of the spectrum, cheap & fragile (TIEs) or expensive & powerful (Defender). The Assault Gunboat especially seems like it would slot in nicely as a middle of the road Imperial fighter.

I believe this is highly likely....though would the gunboat and missleboat make the Tie-bomber obsolete?

I believe this is highly likely....though would the gunboat and missleboat make the Tie-bomber obsolete?

I don't think it would make it obsolete but it would be similar. The gunboat shouldn't have an evade or carry bombs.

Id say, the longer the game lives, the better those odds will be.

Points wise I'm sure the Bomber would stay afloat as the inevitably cheaper option. Plus every missile, rocket, torp, and bomb that comes out will add to the Bombers arsenal. I could see Gunboats at least being the Imperial X-wing. If you want primarily Gunboats then go for it. But if you want Bombers, it gives you a secondary option for an escort and more ordinance. Play for more ships with Bombers, fewer ships with Gunboats.

Missile Boat seems a bit more problematic though I'd admit. Kind of like a HWK-290 on crack for secondaries.

Or they could fix the Advanced and have it serve the mid-range fighter role.

I really want to see the gunboat. This means that there is an approximately 0% chance that it be made.

Or they could fix the Advanced and have it serve the mid-range fighter role.

You have a point, but the Gunboat (or Starwing, as they've started calling it) will have a cannon slot and fewer green maneuvers. But it does seem like the game is getting a lot of cannon-wielding ships.

Or they could fix the Advanced and have it serve the mid-range fighter role.

You have a point, but the Gunboat (or Starwing, as they've started calling it) will have a cannon slot and fewer green maneuvers. But it does seem like the game is getting a lot of cannon-wielding ships.

It will always be called the Assault Gunboat in my house.

I also want a fix for the advance but I really only want the AG out of Tie Fighter nostalgia. I won't lose any sleep if it never is made.

Fixing the Avenger would also require a specialty expansion along the lines of Imperial Aces, essentially backtracking. There's nothing wrong with that but my point is they've already done that recently with Imperial Aces. Either squeeze it in with another expansion (like the escort for an Imp Lancer Class Frigate) or fulfill the same role with a whole new ship. The Gunboat is cannon, fills a niche the Empire lacks, would be a new ship, and readily slide into the 'wave' system already in place. The only strike against it is that I can't think of a Rebel ship to pair it with. So far all the waves have had a 2:2 ratio with 4 total. Adding the Gunboat and, possibly, the Missile Boat would therefore need 2 Rebel ships. Outrider/YT-2400 catches the Rebels up on large ships, but what small base ship? K-wing has been suggested but that's even further afield than the E-wing. And at least the E-wing isn't the abuse of the letter system the K-wing is...

I'll say they will be at least fair to good although when is a question.

To me the Assault Gunboat was Empire's answer to the Y-Wing. In this game I could see them have the same basic stats although I could the the Gunboat with a cannon slot instead of a turret slot. It should be obvious the gunboat wouldn't have the Astromech spot but I'm not sure what to replace it with; System Upgrades are probably a bit too much considering the ships that don't have them although I'll suspect some would get Elite Pilot skills that the Y-Wings currently don't get (or will need to use a Unique Astromech to get.)

To me the Missile Boat is a bit more problematic as there isn't really anything like it. I'd want to give it a dial similar to the Defender (no white K of course) although it wouldn't have the primary attack and maybe not even the agility. What it should have are missile slots and perhaps even a missile upgrade with "unlimited" ammunition.

Maybe the Assault Gunboat would be a good platform for introducing Beam Weapons...same with the Missleboat.

I agree that the Assault Gunboat would have a Dial similar to the Y-wing and cannon upgrade abilities.

At Some point, it'll be extremely difficult to be unique with Dials, and Ships being flown will come down to pure preference...IMO.

As long as the game keeps releasing new ships they will have to eventually get around to the gunboat.

I would imagine the gunboat would be sort of like the imperial b-wing, but without the advanced system upgrade.

I could see the Gunboat going:

Attack 2

Agility 2

Hull 4

Shield 3

Actions: Focus, Target Lock

Upgrades: EPT, Cannon, Missile, Missile

Dial: Y-wing

That way it's a softer X-wing attack wise but sturdier. Cannon and missiles are true to fluff.

As for the Missile Boat, I'm really tempted to just look the other way. Even in the PC game it felt like a cheat ship rolled into the regular campaign. Unable to come up with enough Rebel/Pirate/Warlord battles that were harder but still doable for TIEs, they just threw the Missile Boat in. Honestly, by the time I got there it felt like the game proper had ended and everything else was stale gravy. If a Missile Boat were going to be in the game, the very mechanic that made it work in the PC game would be complicated by the miniatures take on missiles. It would need to be a HWK-290 with a special missile ability, like:

Attack 1

Agility 2

Hull 3

Shield 3

Actions: Focus, "Missile Lock,"* Boost,

Upgrades: EPT, Missile, Missile, Torpedo, Torpedo

Dial: TIE Defender (reflecting the SCRAM jets)

Unlike a HWK-290 which is justified by its support role and ability to carry turrets, the Missile Boat would need a buff to secondaries. Perhaps every time it fired a secondary it could use a free "Missile Lock" (i.e., Target Lock) but could never use a TL for it's primary weapon. The single laser on that thing was a joke after all and its benefit came from firing missiles easily.

I sure hope we see the Assault Gunboat and Missile Boat. I played a lot of missions in those ships as a kid.

3,720 to 1

Never tell me the odds!

You know. I'm a pretty big Star Wars fan, but before I started reading this forum, I had never heard of this assault gunboat. Yet, based on this board, it seems like the 2nd mist popular ship in the setting after the falcon.

It was an essential part flying it in TIE Fighter the computer game. It was slow and clunky but had so many missiles that you could rock your enemies at long range. Very satisfying to take out a while Xwing squad by yourself.

I could see the Assault Gunboat showing up for the Imperials. I have a harder time seeing the Missile Boat (though they could always make it an Epic Only ship).

I could see the Assault Gunboat showing up for the Imperials. I have a harder time seeing the Missile Boat (though they could always make it an Epic Only ship).

That's a very thoughtful compromise.

Honestly, the Assault Gunboat would be a nice middle of the road fighter for Imperials. The Missile Boat, outside of Epic Play, sounds OP by definition.

3,720 to 1

This is the only correct answer.

I think it would be cool if, after the Imperial big ships arrive, the next Epic ships would be the Missile Boat and the K-wing.

What.This thing? (Sorry, couldnt resist. I like it when someone does a good paint job on one of my models. And i think this one came out very well)

I am not extremely well versed in EU, and a tad lazy, but who would pilot these ships?

Only reference I'm aware of for these are the X wing and TIE Fighter computer games. So, no real Famous EU Pilots for these guys. Maybe they'll let the World Champ pick the name (wink wink FFG monitor)...